So, what's stopping you from getting a foldable? [Poll]

It's a gimmick that makes phones less reliable and doesn't add value to the experience.

Why the fuck would I want mechanical stress?

The phrase "what's stopping you" implies we're all interested, but hesitant.

This is a really, really bad assumption.

Price. It's just too high to consider for me right now when I can get phones with the same computing power for half the cost

Uhh the price tag? I just bought a new phone after 6 years of honoured service from my old one, payed the new one a whopping 300€ and it already felt like a rip off. Ain't no way I'm paying four digits for a phone.

Plastic screens.

Glass scratches easy enough... But plastic? What's this, a GameBoy? It's not acceptable. In fact, not only plastic, but plastic that can be indented permanently by your fingernails and a super fragile panel living right below it.

An no, registering a trademark to call your plastic ultra thin glass doesn't fix the issue.

My current phone still works.

I don’t see the point of it. It might be smaller in height when folded, but it’s twice as thick. That doesn’t make it any easier to pocket.

It also seems unnecessarily over complicated. The folding screen technology also doesn’t seem mature (high crease failure). I would think at least one or two phone companies would design them so they just met at a bezel-less seam rather than trying to actually fold an oled/lcd screen.

They're prohibitively expensive, the aspect ratio is dumb, and the fold/crease is distracting as hell.

It reminds me of back in the '00s when people were getting the sidekick or whatever that "T" shaped phone was that Tony Stark had in Ironman.

Price, durability, use case...

There's nothing about them that makes them worth sacrificing the first two above.

The price, the line down the middle, the hinge. Generally just not requiring any more screen space

-Not durable (If you can damage the screen with your fingernail it's not durable enough. Period.) -No headphone jack

• No expandable storage
• No removae battery
• Lack of support for folding screens in apps
• Extremely high prices

Cost and durability

Cost

durability

Size

difficult to repair (if not impossible)

lack of sdcard (on such a large body)

No open source ROMS

price and reliability

Price

I mean they cost at least a grand.

They don't have the actual answer in their poll for me which is, you pay 1800 for the z fold but get the camera of the s23 basic model. Which is wild.

Give me the ultra cameras and I'll buy it

I don't pay more than £400 for a phone. So that.

1. I'll break it

2. I dont need what a foldable offers

1. My current phone works fine
2. I can't run CalyxOS or GrapheneOS on it
3. They are way too expensive

My current phone still works, too expensive, durability concerns (my current phone would not be working were it a foldable), center crease, looks like a pain to repair (right to repair hell yeah!), and most importantly...

...why? What do I gain by going with a foldable? My current phone doesn't need to fold to fit in my pocket, and it doesn't have so many compromises.

I've avoided the like the plague for all the obvious reasons, my mum has been using one for a few years now and ran into just about all of those reasons.

Permanant mid fold in screen.

Durability lasts far fewer actions than what was in the specs and warranty.

Refurbishing only introduced new issues and failed to resolve old issues.

I don't want one. It's a cool technological feat, but like a transparent monitor or flexible keyboard, it just doesn't make sense for my needs.

Honestly, I just don't find them very appealing, one of my coworkers has one and having the thing unfold into a shape more like a small tablet just looks like it'd make it harder to use one handed, and having a weird seam in the middle looks distracting. They look kinda cool and novel because I'm not used to seeing screens fold like that, but I don't see myself actually preferring one once the novelty ran out.

I see them as every way inferior to normal phones. I don't get why they're popular.

Too fragile. Too expensive.

It adds nothing of value. It's just a neat gimmick. I don't want a crease in my screen, I don't want to double the width of my phone in my pocket, and I have no valid use cases for it.

The main thing stopping me is that I don’t use Android phones right now. But even if I did, I personally find the whole foldable phone thing to be a bit gimmicky. I’d want to see it have staying power over some years before I’d even consider getting one.

I got one, but got rid of it after the screen cover plastic became rigid and creaky...twice. Worse, Samsung said they'd cover it once under warranty, and that after their ubreak ifix people were telling me it'd cost $200 to fix and I had to explain I had a protection plan to the braindead tech ten times.

Not worth it until they solve durability issues.

As long as there's a noticable crease in the screen, I'm out. They also need to last more than two years.

I simply don't like them. There's zero use case where I would consider a foldable phone superior, or even equivalent to a regular one.

I'll fold when the price comes down.

Stresses me out each time I open and close my phone thinking the life span of the display is shortened by 1

Im not gonna buy a phone that's worth several months of salary in my country only to get mugged the moment I pull it out

I'm not paying a thousand plus dollars for a phone. I go through a phone every year and a half to two years. I don't want to spend $1,000 a year for a phone.

I don't want to have a never-ending phone payment. I buy inexpensive but good quality phones like Motorola's or second-hand pixels and I'm good.

I spend 160 something dollars a year on average on phones, and use the least expensive prepaid plans out there.

And this is not because I am poor, there's room in the budget for me to have the fancy iPhone and you know the top of the line plan or whatever, I just got better things to spend my money on than a fucking phone.

If a company comes out with a folding phone that doesn't have a lot of bloatware on it and is in the $200 range then the next time I buy a new phone I would consider it.

For me, they're too fat when folded and too big when open. I don't like the feeling of the crease, and the technology needs time to prove how reliable it'll be in the real world.

The fact the most of them are made by Samsung and I can’t stand the amount of bloatware Samsung put on their devices.

It all comes down to the gimmick not being worth an additional thousand euros to the price of my phone.

I don't think durability would be a problem for me as I already baby my glass back device and I haven't been using screen protectors for years with no problem. The downgrade in cameras isn't that big of a deal for me as most pictures I take are macro, and as it turns out phones nowadays are horrendous dogshit at it anyway.

I think I'd enjoy the gimmick, I used to own a flip phone as a teenager, it's just not worth a thousand euros extra. I'd probably add another 150 or 200 euros to my pixel to buy a folding phone.

I want my phone to last more than 2 years

I'm still not sold on the durability and the last thing I want is the screen to become a wear item. Even with most of them pretty much all switching from plastic to ultra thin glass, bending glass like that is asking for it to eventually break and replacement internal screens aren't cheap.

Secondly, a lot of foldables sacrifice battery capacity as the Flip 5 has a 3700 MAh battery and the Fold 5 has a 4400 MAh and powering a 2nd, larger screen is going to consume more battery. A normal smartphone you can typically find with at least 5000 MAh batteries in them.

The tech is cool and all, but it just seems more like an engineering flex rather than something that's practical.

Too expensive.

Durability and the fact you still have to make significant cuts to battery life and cameras.

• Price
• Durability
• my feelings towards UI designers that now have to think "what if the screen just halved in size out of nowhere?"

The fact that there will always be a seam in the folding screen. If I feel it while swiping over it or there's weird glare because the surface is uneven that would drive me bananas

Price and durability. I don't know, I can maybe get one eventually if I really want to, but shelling out like ~$1500 USD for a unproven screen design is pretty yikes to me. Plus, since my LG V60 is still serving me so well I really see no good reason to replace it.

Huh... the folding. I'm already mad that I can't get a solid 5 years out of a $1200 phone, there's no way I'm shelling out for a first wave foldy.

Why would I care if my phone folds. Id rather have no crease in my screen. But I don't drop my phones often, is that the point of it folding? Cause it getting wider and shorter doesn't necessarily make it more convenient

Simple: price. I think that is true for the majority of users. When there's a $200 foldable out there, people will try it just to see what the fuss is about. But that's not even on the horizon.

For me personally, they need to come wayyyy down. Like 1/3 of the current price. That would put them in competition with budget flagships like the Pixel 7.

They're way too expensive and they're still early-generation devices. Plus, why would I trust Google to continue with the product line seeing as how they keep killing viable products and services?

If they get to the Pixel Fold 4 or 5 and the price is down to the $500-600 range, then it'd be a very serious contender for me. (Assuming the insane fragility is resolved)

Their poll doesn't have the option of "I already have one"

Talk about selection bias.

My clothes have pockets

doesn't provide a benefit for me for the tradeoffs in smaller battery size, screen size, lower water resistence, lower durability, no open source documentation/parts to enable comsumer repairability

Price and durability concerns

Nothing is. I'm currently writing this post on one. I will consider that weight is a big issue, one I wish was spoken of more than the plethora of reporters and journalists upset that Instagram, famously known for not having an iPad app, also doesn't have foldable support. I really like my Pixel Fold regardless.

Lack of interest in the form factor. Too thick when folded. Folds are too large for one hand when open. Cost is high for the chip sets and memory.

It's way too expensive for what I want.

I actually just want a very small but very functional smartphone since I currently don't have a phone at all.

I just use my Tab S7+5G as a phone, been doing that since the S6. I've just recently ran into some issues where I might need a smaller device, e.g. to use some store app QR codes or similar stuff where you'd have to present your phone. Well... I can actually do that just fine, but pulling out a 12inch tablet makes you look like a dork.

To be honest, I'd wish someone made a non-folding phone with a the height of a folded folding phone lmao

To contrast some of the comments here from people who've clearly never used one of these foldables outside of a display case, I've had my Fold 3 (the larger folding tablet style) for two years. I came from the Note and S lines, Windows Phone, and have bounced between iPhones. My Fold 3 is in great shape and has survived many falls. It's definitely durable enough for me. I take care of it, but I get that some people don't desire to take care of their devices and expect them to be exceedingly durable. Never had anything under the screen. Never take it to the beach unless it's in a sealed ziplock. I take care not to put it in dusty environments or let sawdust or shavings get into it (hobbies).

Unfolded, it's better than any other phone out there. Viewing videos enlarged or widescreen is great depending on video and application. During normal usage, the crease is not noticable enough to be a distraction unless viewed from a severe angle (think the person sitting next to you). Unfolded scrolling of Lemmy, the internet, and reading is a better experience than anything else out there - bar none, no argument. The screen is just huge and viewing websites in mobile or desktop is fantastic. It makes the web actually useable from a mobile device. I never use my Galaxy Tab anymore. Samsung does a pretty good job software-wise adapting apps to fit the foldable aspect ratio if a guveb app doesn't officially support it. More apps are supporting foldables every day.

I would agree with the sentiment that the Z Flip line likely has a more gimmicky purpose. At least the Fold line functions as a tablet and is a decent phone folded up. At least, that is my experience with a Z Flip 3 before swapping for a Fold 3. But I'll be buying foldables exclusively from here on out. After using the Fold 3 for two years, I can say it's folding screen is definitely NOT a gimmick.

They're way too expensive. Moving parts such as the folding screen are just a focal point for stress, which is unacceptable given how expensive they are. I hate hearing that people can get dust in the hinge without anyway to clean it out.

You're also paying for extra screens such as the one on the outside and the folding inner screen. This is just added unnecessary cost when you'll never use both at the same time. I'm guessing the outer screens were added to reduce the number of times people unfold the phone over its lifetime, which gets back to my other point that adding moving parts just adds more issues than it solves.

Overall, I see it as a novelty at best. From the prices I've seen them sold at for the phones that turn into a tablet like device when unfolded, you can just buy a phone and a tablet separately for less. I think their purpose is to create a product more expensive than what the current flagship phones run, giving rich people something to spend additional money on to to show they have a lot of money and enough novelty for tech reviewers to discuss during reviews.

Money

I want a phone that lasts at least 5 years

The crease is still far too noticable for me. That and the outrageous price that some of these things close when they eventually make it to the shelves with the "Australia tax" applied to it.

The price, obviously. However, I'd also worry about the screen cracking where it folds.

I have a galaxy flip. It is a great phone. I do though, have many creases in the center fold which have developed over about a year and a half's use. They don't generally inhibit any aspect of its functionality, but as unsightly. When the screen is lit with bright content they are not really visible if I'm not looking for them. If it is dark content I see them and it is bothersome. I have the phone because I want the smallest form factor in my pocket. I'll probably have to upgrade soon as the creases get worse. I will probably try to get a phone without a folding function. Possibly a dumb-phone so further scale down the size of my mobile device. Increasingly phones have become avenues for direct advertisement instead of functional use. I no longer need a device that buzzes every ten minutes with some esoteric notification. Folding was novel and useful in size, but it highlighted my motivation was to reduce use.

My phone hasn't died yet, so I can't justify buying a new one.

I'm also afraid if my phone is too good, I'll stop using my computer as much where I'm more productive

Edit: wow, looking at the poll results, this is definitely a minority opinion. Most people are about price/durability

There is no way a folding screen phone would survive my job.

When they have a phone that opens like scroll that I can put in a gasket sealed tube, I will consider it.

I don't like them (as they're now). Price.

Price and durability. I'm not going to pay exorbitant prices for something I'll have to replace in 2 years

As someone who just got the pixel fold, it is pointless.

I don't see myself folding a foldable. Why would I want that?

I really just cant stand the weird plastic-looking screens they all have on the inside.

Also yeah being anywhere from double to triple the price for something that I think looks objectively worse than a regular glass phone screen is just... not gonna happen.

Nobody's mentioned it, but the main thing for me is that the screen aspect ratio isn't any good.

I've always preferred bigger screens and bigger phones and willing to pay a bit extra for a foldable screen now they've been on the market for a while. I doubt they'll last as long as a normal phone screen, but they generally review well and I get they impression they are more durable than most people expect.

But.. the main benefit of a big screen (for me) is for watching videos. If it's not 16:9 (or close to it) then what's the point? I don't need to multitask on my phone, I'll switch to a laptop for that - I've had phones that do split screen for years and it was a cool gimmick for a while, but I've never really made good use of it.

If anyone can tell me of a phone with a big screen and 16:9 aspect ratio then I'd be willing to reconsider...

Permanently Deleted

Hmmm... I think our weekly discussion thread this week had everyone gave their inputs on foldable, go check it out before we switch it out tomorrow.

https://lemmy.world/post/2436246

Although I don't think our sticky posts on this comm are working correctly for our friends at lemmy.ml, so please take a note of that.

I actually had a z fold 3. I absolutely loved it! Battery life was great for my usage and the extra screen space was wonderful. You don’t notice the crease when your actually using it. You only notice it when your actually looking for it.

What stopped me from getting the next one was because on my device I saw what I assumed were hair line cracks that were developing at the crease. At first I thought it was scratches but eventually more showed up. As a former technician I knew my screen was going to fail soon. The unfortunate part was I had the phone financed through my carrier and these started to develop well before my upgrade period. It made it just a little over a year when this started to happen. This prompted me to pay it off the rest of the way and trade it in for a more conventional phone.

Again I loved it. But I think it’s too soon for me to fully commit to foldables. At least I actually tried it.

IMO, I think it's a pretty dumb concept in the way we're currently implementing it. If I want a borderline TV to carry around, I'll buy a tablet. I just want a phone for quick access to my communications mainly; I don't have vision issues that requires the screen to even be as big as some of the "small" offerings from the larger players in the cellular market. Additionally, to satisfy the quick access, many have multiple screens now, which I think is equally dumb, you're never going to use both screens at the same time, and most of the time there's no use-case where both screens would be on. The only viable folding device IMO, is the zFlip, and my pockets aren't small enough for me to care, or justify the extra cost, and durability concerns.

I recognize it's an important step in the process to make phones like this to further the foldable screens, so they can be further developed to be more durable, more flexible, and overall better than they currently are, but I, personally, have no need for one, nor desire to own one. The crease isn't pretty either, but it's not my chief concern.... it's just way too much for way too little. I haven't appreciated the direction of phones for a while, or the emphasis on the camera; simply, I want something better, faster, easier to use, and that lasts longer. Not a phablet with less than 18 hours of battery life, and a last-gen mobile radio in it.... Samsung did that kind of thing with the Galaxy Note, and I find the folding phones to be an extension of that.

I love technology, I wok in technology and I appreciate it, but I have no desire for this. Give me a 5" screen, with powerful hardware under the hood and a good, latest-gen LTE/5G/whatever radio and WiFi 6e/7/whatever, and a decent battery, and I'm happy. Lately phones are too big for my large hands, and have cut so many corners that anything affordable is slow as all heck. I don't want to pay multiple thousands of dollars for something that works for me, simply because it has a bunch of fancy camera features I'm never going to care about. Having a camera is good, but 90% of the time I'm taking pictures of racks of equipment, wires, and my cat. I don't need a 50 megapixel camera with both wide angle and telephoto supplemental cameras and AI enhancements/image processing to capture images of my feline, or my network switch. What I do need is something that I can flip between half a dozen different apps to do my job, with a fast network connection so I can move data around quickly, and a battery that doesn't need charging multiple times a day so that my phone will stay powered on while I work...

Aside from price, the fact that they are twice as thicker as a regular phone make them pointless for me. When we have the technology to make them 8-12mm thickness I might be interested.

Maturity, I would consider the Pixel Fold 2

Bulky, expensive, unneeded

I took the dive, got one and it's awesome. I browse Lemmy 95% of the time on my outer screen. I went with Motorola Razor+ because I'm not the biggest Samsung fan and I totally impulse bought it. Unless it's something that demands I open my phone, I don't really, and that was what got me to get it. Without the outside screen I probably wouldn't have gotten it, but totally glad I did.

Until they make the protective screen durable up to lvl 5 scratches without dmg, ip 68 protection, flat front side without slightly risen bezels so I can comfortably use gestures, even the battery size and camera capabilities with normal flagships and the price of course, it's a nono for me. 🤔 Otherwise overpriced gimmick..

Owned one, went back to pixel 7 pro afterwards. I liked it a lot and really loved the screen size.

But the screen is really, really fragile and the phone is heavy enough that it's hard to hold when You're surfing for more than an hour.

So I could surf on my phone less... Or I could grab a phone that isn't 450g

Generally, I love mine, I like reading the paper on mine. No issues with durability, I take mine downhill mountain biking in the PNW, skiing in Canada, the works. The only issue I have with mine is that the made for foldable apps suck ass and you must avoid them like the plague. Who wants a permanent hamburger menu that takes up half the screen permanently while the other half of the screen (which is smaller than a normal phone) is used to display content, messages, and pictures?

Imagine the ribbon at the top of microsoft word taking up 50% of your monitor, lmao.

The high price also has to go. I'd like to see foldables for $750, though I know that's a pipe dream.

I don't see a point.

too thick

Since getting a wearable display, screens are no longer a priority.

The purpose of folding a phone is carrying it in a more pocketable form.

I don't need that because I'm a man always with regular pockets which are fine for carrying a Pixel 6 Pro screen.

If I wanted a bigger screen, I would also want a keyboard and a mouse. So you could say that I'm freaking hyped for the upcoming DEX-like desktop mode coming to AOSP. Video-out on a Pixel, fucking finally.

Nothing at all, I've had two of them =]

I want a screen protector

I prefer the standard chocolate bar style it's less likely to break and it fits fine in my hand

First, the price point is stupid

Second, I don't trust a folding monitor to last

Third, every other time I've gone to a platform that's different from what 99% of apps are written for, I've felt frustrated because the apps didn't take advantage of that and here I was with support for that but no benefit to me.

A device that can inevitably fail as soon a week after purchase, and will likely fail within the first year, is just not for me. Not to mention the price, and poor software support for most apps

They can't run GrapheneOS, and I like smaller phones (rocking a p4a). But maybe if Google release a flip-like phone I might be interested.

What is the benefit? What improvement does it offer? What is the point of introducing a weakness and simultaneous single point failure in exchange for a phone with a smaller, less durable screen, has a fatter form factor, and makes it more difficult to use to do all the things I actually use my phone for?

Flip phones existed as a way to easily answer and end calls. They went away when touch screens became a more convenient and versatile means of using a device. Nobody talks on the phone anymore. I don't even have my phone app on my home screen.

Exclusively price. I want a Fold very bad but, too much $

It's also inconvenient. Having to unfold the phone before using is cumbersome and it doesn't fit well in my pockets.

Permanently Deleted

Permanently Deleted

Permanently Deleted

The flips smaller size is awesome, but I think that positive is offset by the annoyance of having to open the phone the every time.

The fold I could see myself buying in a later gen. Once the hinge and screen are through a few more iterations I think I'll buy one. The huge screen is just so nice. But folded up it shouldn't be much heavier, larger, thicker than a normal phone, I already think modern phones are way too big as it is.

Maybe battery life, and I don't want to give up my headphone jack and memory card slot. :(

Cost isn't a real concern for me; Samsung has very aggressieve discount pricing where I am, I could get a Z Fold 4 with the same RAM/memory for about 10% more than the S23 Ultra, so I effectively see it as a freebie small tablet with an expensive phone.

Well I have one already, I don't need another one

Of course durability is the main issue here but now that you have mentioned it the water resistance too.

I've had the Fold 2 for about 3 years now and it works like a charm. No issues with battery or folding issues. I would never go back to a non-folding phone.

Camera. If I'm buying something that expensive, it better have a great camera.

Durability concerns. If a little speck can ruin the screen, then it's not ready to be a daily driver for me.

I hated the idea until I bought a Fold4. I'm always careful with my electronics, even so, I've dropped it several times on accident and had zero issues. I can't imagine going back to a slab phone, the flexibility of the extra screen real estate is something I use so often that it really would be a significant disruption to my everyday to go back to a slab.

Reliability is a reasonable concern, but the benefits far outweigh the potential risks for me. If you're breaking phones all the time, they probably aren't a good fit for you. I don't bring my phone to beach so maybe I'm more careful than the average user - regardless, I guess that's why I have a smartwatch.

I love my fold 4, and as long as I can afford them, will never go back to a normal phone. I believe in holding onto phones as long as possible, and won't be getting a fold5 or fold6 if my screen holds out becsuse that's just silly. This one works.

I mmade the jump based on the following argument: People agree to pay $1200 for an XL model phone every year but why. 6.X inches has been the standard since like...the pixel 2. 5 years now? People keep buying phones every year for what? There was nothing new. It's marginally, unnoticeablely faster. The screen wasnt getting bigger. The pixel 3xl was just a pixel 2xl but newer. (I bought my 3xl when 5s had been announced so I wasn't paying full retail) There was no reason to buy new phones every year and stay paying money to my telecom. The features just did not add up year over year and felt stagnant. I bought a pixel3 only because the pixel2 battery started inflating.

If you own a budget model phone, a flagship is worth that cost. If you hang onto your phone for 3+ years, a new flagship is worth the cost. But if you have a flagship, made last year, why would you sign a lease every year, what does perpetually paying $50 a month actually do for you? Phones are stagnant. You're just paying to not have an old phone, or you're paying because you want the ego of having a new phone. (No judgement just how people are, being the first person with a noticably new phone and getting complements feels good, I would know lol)

So I said fuck it and got a Fold2 right as price dropped, when fold3s dropped. I signed for 900, and had it a year. People complain about size, the crease, the weight. But ultimately these are petty whines. You stop noticing it. Hold your iPhone Max. Hold your Galaxy Ultra. Now go pick up a tiny flip phone from 2005. Go pick up an iPhone 4, or a galaxy 4. Your phone now is huge and heavy. You didn't notice it because you got used to it. Folds are the same way. I traded my fold 2 for a fold 4 because burgundy and camera bump was much better. Cases for the fold2 were hard to find and fold4 came with one. Otherwise I would still have the fold2.

Fragility. Treat your $2000 phone with respect. Based on some peoples screens you'd swear they use it as a fucking hammer in their spare time. I understand here is where people have issues. The plastic screen is a dealbreaker I get it. If you drop it, caseless, onto concrete yes you do run the risk of breaking it. People wanting a more durable screen is fair. Hard agree. Samsung is the leader in this field and noone is challenging it yet, so they're slacking. I pay $8 a month for asurion insurance through my provider. For $150 if I total the screen I get a new phone no questions asked. I really can't ask for a better deal than that. If you're on the fence, and the fragile screen scares you, get insurance. I don't blame people too much for being afraid of breaking it, but there's options now, where there wasn't with the fold 1 and 2.

And no, I'm not a samsung mouthpiece. The repairability on folds is fucking ass. If you dont have insurance, the big screen is like $700. On top of that, battery replacements are total wash because Samsung doesn't believe in pulltabs. If fragility is your issue, I get it. Anything else? Nah you will be ok you just gotta get used to it.

Permanently Deleted

I have a foldable and I hate my foldable. I am literally counting down the days until I can get rid of it.

In the beginning, it was fine but I didn't use the tablet mode as much as I thought I would. It was mostly just videos and manga. Then the hinge started to get dust or debris under it and wouldn't open all the way. This has slowly gotten worse and worse and I don't even want to open it even if I have a good use case now.

The outer screen is too thin but it does make it easy to hold and type one-handed at least.

The device is also bulky obviously which is fine but with a case, it's about an inch thick which is a bit unwieldy.

The battery life is awful, even without using the main screen. I usually have to charge once a day and overnight.

I just miss my Note. Nice big wide screen, comfortable to hold. Massive battery. Nice stylus. :(

I actually used to have one, but even though I was very careful with it, the screen kept breaking from normal everyday use. Eventually, my phone insurance decided they'd no longer cover this type of phone due to it being too fragile, so I went back to using a regular phone.

I mean they cost at least a grand.

Mix of cost and it doesn't actually benefit me at all. I buy a cheap phone and it does everything it needs to, i don't need to add a 0 to the cost to get no actual benefit for me.

Probably makes more sense for people that actually use their phones for work or something.

My Fold 2 held up 2.5 years but the screen is starting to develop cracks at the hinge.
Still works, but I can see the cracks growing weekly, only a matter of time until they're too visible.
Replacing the screen is just too expensive, together with a new battery I'd look at the price of a new decent normal phone.

The huge screen is nice every once in a while, but I don't do enough with my phone to justify the price.
Was a neat experience of the "future", but the next phone is going to be a normal smartphone. Better battery life, will do the job just fine, lasts longer and cheaper.

No hard feeling towards foldables either, I knew they were expensive.
Also no surprise that folding something 10.000 times (conservative 10x a day for 1000 days) isn't going to last forever.
Maybe they'll find some magical solution for that, but I don't think they will anytime soon.

I've had my Galaxy zflip 3 for about 2 years now. Lots of comments here are saying they are too fragile or poorly made but that has not been my experience:

• the battery is fine
• the screen hasn't scratched
• it flips open fine with a one handed flick of the wrist
• I've dropped it several times without damage
• it has been used in the rain and snow
• I've replaced the screen protector once myself due to it peeling at the fold. Having to change screen protectors happens on every phone I've owned due to peeling somewhere
• I can drop it in my pocket folded without worrying about keys, coins, or whatever else scratching up the screen
• being able to use the phone as it's own tripod is nice for photos
• flipping it shut to end phonecalls is satisfying
• price is about the same as any other new Samsung phone (I got mine close to free trading in a Galaxy s10e)

The new flip 5 looks really nice with the bigger cover screen but I don't plan to upgrade anytime soon since this phone is working well for me.

I love my Fold 3. Only real complaints are how many apps are not built to support the front screen's thinness. It was the most expensive phone I've ever purchased even at 50% off used (around $900), but for the amount of hours I use it, it seems justified. For maps, photos, and reading, the inner screens are awesome. I mostly use the outer because most things do not need the full size. Can't imagine it without the outer screen. Durability not an issue so far, whether that's waterproofness, sand in the fold, or the crease.

Paying more for a less durable device is not what I prefer to do.

I can see getting a Pixel Fold 3 Pro or something like that when it comes out in a few years. That is if Google doesn't lose interest in the product line in the meantime...

I have been using my Pixel 7 Pro for almost a year and it's still perfect so I am not in need of a new device. But I certainly like the pocketable tablet form factor of Fold devices and may very well get one of those next.

Any next phone I will buy will have to last me more than 5 years minimum. So far the only phone that I can safely assume to do so is whatever the latest Fairphone will be when my pixel 6 dies.

This phone as aged like milk.

My previous one, the OnePlus 5T did last me 5 years. And I want to repeat that.

A foldable won't even last me half a year if I'm not careful about debris on the screen every single time I fold it.

I tried a Flip 4 but it had way too many compromises for my taste relative to a regular samsung phone in the same price range, I was also concerned about it's durability as I tend to keep my phones for about 3 years.

I'm a fan of small phones and as such been waiting for the fold-tech to lead to smaller devices.

Therefore the Razr+ (40 Ultra) and the Flip5 are the first phones to raise my interest since I got my Pixel 5.

I really like the way Moto implemented the external Display but the Flip seems to win in almost any other category.

After reading/watching a lot of reviews I came to the conclusion that (for now) I'll still be better off with a Galaxy S23. Maybe next year...

I do like the idea of them, same size phone takes up half the space in a pocket etc. But my current phone (that I've had since 2017) still works mostly fine.

I do think they've missed a trick by going all in on the foldable plastic display rather than two bezelless screens that folded out to look like one screen. I'm not phone designer but I think it might be more durable to not have the actual screen bending.

Price, that's it.

Love flip phones, love small phones, 'ate expensive phones

Marginal utility. If I was paying 2x or 3x for the 2x or 3x more useful functionality I might actually consider it. As I have before with better processors or cameras etc.

But more screen real estate and/or novel UIs for folded vs unfolded aren't doing anything for me. Maybe if I was a billionaire, but honestly even then it might not be worth it depending on how many people actually develop for it. It could just end up being a constant frustrating experience of apps that do weird things because this use case was never considered.

Permanently Deleted

My current phone is going strong still and I dont spend more than 200$ on a phone period. Im pretty sure most foldable phones are still 500$+. Besides I like that my phone has a protective case in case of dropping and half of it is both scratch and impact resistant. With these folding phones they seem very fragile and scratch prone. I heard the glass over time gets creases but that was a while ago and they may have improved on that front.I had my fun with flip phones in the 2000s with tracphone, not really a new gimmick for me.

I typically buy last generation refurbished. I was able to get the Samsung Galaxy s22 Ultra for sub $800. The last generation Fold is still over $1000. I need the cool-factor to calm down so the old ones are cheaper.

Too new, I'll wait and pick one up further down the line when more they are more established.

Grease

It's a bit of a stupid gimmick all things considered.

That I haven't seen a review for one where it doesn't snap in half after a couple weeks. Until I stop seeing those reviews, I don't see the point.